i am a 33 year old female with a family history of breast cancer. i do not have cancer but i have opted to have a prophylactic breast mastectomy (pbm) to manage my personal risk. this blog is to document my journey and to get my thoughts and feelings out. it is a way for me to cope and to hopefully help others along in this same journey or to empower others who struggle for understanding.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

i had my first fill yesterday. it was definitely an interesting experience. it was nerve wracking seeing the needle...and i am not squeamish by any means but i had to close my eyes the entire procedure.

the initial fill was not painful at all. however, i was in significant pain shortly after and was in enough pain that i could not sleep well or comfortably even with a quarter pill of oxycontin/percoset.

i came to the conclusion today that part of the issue with pain was because i wore a surgical bra and because i am partially numb i could not tell that it was digging into my ribs. i figured that out when i took it off and took a shower and felt some relief. i got the go a head from the plastic surgeon that i do not need to wear it...i can go bra free!

i tolerated 80 cc's of saline in each expander. that puts me at 140 cc's in the right expander and 90 cc's in the left (the left is less due to having 50 cc's removed shortly after surgery due to a collapsed lung. fluid was removed to ease the pressure on my lung thus preventing a chest tube.) the asymmetry is not that noticeable.

the plastic surgeon warned me that when i sat up and looked down that i would be significantly bigger. i was surprised at how much bigger i looked and spent the rest of the day shooting off text message puns to all my friends. my favorite one being "go go gadget boobs!"

today i had my follow up with the breast surgeon who performed the mastectomy to get pathology results. they are not in yet. boo! anyways, she said if i preferred she could call me with the results since i live 2 hours away. i said this was fine and if anything shows up we will book an appointment. otherwise, i do not need to see her until next year!!! btw, she was very impressed with my results.

i am pretty beat today so i will not be posting pics until tomorrow. i do not have the energy...and i gotta listen to my body.

2 comments:

Glad that you're getting some relief with the bra off. My PS never recommended a bra and I'm thankful for that. The expanders and fills felt like vices on my chest in their own right let alone with adding a bra on top! Hope that your fills go smoothly and get less painful as time goes on. (I had very painful fills.. started with 300cc at surgery then 100cc each time until I stopped at 710cc due to a complication, had one expander removed and need to start all over again in a few months...) So, I feel your pain as I've lived through it and will be again in the near future. Congrats on your great results.. you look fantastic. Also, sending good vibes for a clear path.